Alberta Cross impatient to tour

Alberta Cross’ sophomore release, Songs of Patience, took more than two years to make, so the title is apt in that regard.

But the band couldn’t wait until July 17, when the record is officially released, to hit the road for what The Beat is calling the “Tour of Impatience.”

“We are dying to get out there,” singer/guitarist Petter Ericson Stakee told The Beat. “Ideally you’d like people to already have the record (before a live show), but we’ve put a few songs out there, so fans will have some stuff.”

Besides, he joked, “We can play any new songs we want to, even if they’re not on the record.”

Stakee said he has indeed been writing “too many new songs” as the band prepares for its summer tour in support of Songs of Patience. But he also is looking forward to a “sweaty summer tour.”

The making of Songs of Patience was frustrated at turns by a variety of creative issues. Sessions in upstate New York and Los Angeles returned mixed results. Eventually, Stakee and longtime collaborator Terry Wolfers (the pair formed the band in London in 2005 before relocating to Brooklyn) decided to part ways with the three new band members who joined them on their arrival in the States.

“Alberta Cross has always been about me and Terry working on our songs, our ideas, and having five opinions instead of two was a step backward,” Stakee confessed. “They were great musicians, but we felt like we kind of had to take it back.”

Stakee said it wasn’t just an expanded band, but changing voices in the control booth as well, that led to the duo’s dissatisfaction.

“We went through lots of producers and let go of some bandmates. It was a struggle, and I don’t recommend making a record this way,” he said. “But there were lots of positives, too, and we made a better record for it.

“We’re proud of this record. It’s the best work we’ve done.”

Tour preparation has included working with new musicians – “three of our buddies,” Stakee said – to round out the band’s live roster.

Stakee called the new songs – like Lay Down and Crate of Gold – “more melodic and straightforward. Lots of harmonies, and it has a soul and gospel kind of vibe, but with a bit of grit, too.”